Smith goes on to further elaborate how, when he attended journalism school, he was never told to question authority in the way that he remained skeptical of the Chicago Police Department, ultimately leading to his pursuits to obtain the video that incriminated the Chicago PD in the killing of Laquan McDonald.

This type of teaching, in which students are reminded of the importance of questioning authority, is a quality I find severely lacking in Ithaca College’s own journalism department. As a second-semester sophomore, I have taken a bulk of introductory journalism classes in which the basic tenets of journalism are presented and discussed countless times. Over the course of these classes, I have learned all there is to know about the inverted pyramid, writing leads, objectivity, interviewing sources — the dos and dont’s of journalism.

But from these classes, I have never learned to question authority. I have learned to be curious, yes, but never skeptical. Curiosity implies a sense of timidness, wanting to know but not wanting to question. However, skepticism is different. It is a word that carries the weight of an unmasked truth or a dark secret waiting to be revealed.

Like what Smith said, this is a quality that has gone missing in many journalism schools. And while the very characteristic of skepticism cannot necessarily be taught, the idea can be introduced. The pitfall here is the fact that the idea does not get placed onto the table at all. As a result, journalism students lack the drive to constantly question the powerful institutions that control the country. Similar to the attitudes of many mainstream outlets like The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times, these young, budding journalists may grow to become apathetic, complacent reporters who place too much trust in their sources and dutifully accept whatever information is given to them.

In my own personal discovery as a journalist, I have taught myself to be skeptical and to constantly question information. The same cannot readily be said about other journalism students, both at Ithaca College and in other journalism programs across the country, who may not even entertain the importance of skepticism because it was never introduced to them.

It seems there is an environment of complacency surrounding mainstream media in which institutions and government officials are mostly trusted despite the growing level of distrust of these powerful institutions by the American people. Only a resurgence and reinvigoration of skepticism can mobilize journalists to investigate and serve the public interest of discovering corruption and mishandling. This kind of quality is one that can and should be introduced and discussed with young journalism students like me. It is at this time that we are only beginning to build upon our journalistic foundations and form our own principals. It is also at this time that we still remain idealistic, in which we are taught that one of the most important duties as a journalist is to serve the public. But how can we do so successfully if the very ideal that could help us fulfill this obligation remains a secret?